August 10, 2017

Following implementation of a new type of computer science option last fall — AP Computer Science Principles, which puts real-world perspectives on coding — data from 2016 to 2017 shows the number of minorities taking a computer science exam in some form nearly tripled to 22,199, up from 8,283, while the number of girls taking it rose from 12,642 to 29,708. AP CSP was born out of a collaboration between the National Science Foundation, College Board and Code.org, along with other authorized providers, who are rolling out the course and training teachers to facilitate it, reports NPR — and over half of the schools teaching the course are using curriculum from Code.org, which trained 500 teachers last year. Though there has been progress, NPR notes that only one in five taking the AP Computer Science exam were minorities, while only one in four were women — but the results show collaboration can have positive outcomes, a reality that should be top of mind for educators across the K-12 and higher education spectrum trying to build the school-to-workforce STEM pipeline.